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Topic: Clothes lines (Read 33071 times)

My mother always used a clothesline, we had a huge one outside that probably could have fit all the clothes and sheets we owned, with room to spare. And I have 6 brothers and sisters. She also did cloth diapers on the line. She actually still puts everything on the line, and it's just her and my dad now.

We did have a dryer, but it was really only used when my mom washed and dried the fabric before sewing something, so the fabric would shrink if it was going to. The driers we had were bought used.

I grew up in Idaho, where school was not cancelled unless it was 20 degrees below zero. For winter, my dad rigged clotheslines along the ceiling in the basement, which was where the wood stove was that heated the house, and where we kept toys and such. So clothes hung up there would dry relatively quickly.

I have one line outside, which doesn't get used now, since my darling husband spray painted a costume on it and got black paint all over the line. I use a clothes horse type thing inside, I actually need to put the laundry on it away. I have a drier that is probably older than I am, but still works. I use the drier for unders, sheets, towels, jammies. Seriously, clothes last longer when you don't dry them in a drier. Plus shrinking is way less likely.

At the risk of looking like a doofus, I'll be honest and tell you all that I have never, ever used a clothesline in my entire life. I don't even really know how. So I have some possibly naive questions for those who use a clothesline almost exclusively.

-How long do clothes typically take to dry indoors? What about outdoors? I know weather plays a huge factor in this, but I'm just looking for an approximation.It mostly depends on the fabric. Sheets dry in a couple of hours. Jeans can take a couple of days. I dry on portable racks, which I put on the back deck in good weather, bring indoors in the evening before dew starts to form.

-I noticed a few posters mention that they have clotheslines in their apartments. So, when you do laundry, do you have, say, ten shirts, seven pairs of socks, and nine underpants hanging in your living space? Or do you not wait until all your clothes are dirty to finally do a few loads of laundry (like me)? I have a washer and dryer. I wash 1 load whenever I have enough to fill the washer. I use the dryer only when its too damp to air dry or when I'm in a hurry for something.

-Does your wet laundry drip water onto your floors? No. But my swimsuit does. When I have something that wet I put the rack outside or in the bath tub

-Do you have to iron all of your air-dried clothing? Or do the wrinkles caused by the spin cycle magically disappear like they do when I use my dryer? Kints actually dry smoother on a rack than they do in the dryer. Pants I hang from the hem like someone else said. Woven shirts come out smooth enough for wear in my casual office.

I have more questions, but I'll stop there. It'd be super nice to be able to dry things in my apartment, so I'm really curious about anyone's answers.

I live in west Texas - Big Spring to be precise. Humidity in the summer is usually about 15-20 per cent on good days. Bad days0- 10. Those are the days you see a blue t-shirt dry before your eyes. It is usually quite breezy here and if the sand is blowing,we do not hang out our clothes. I try to watch the weather and wash early in morning and get clothes on the line then; andtry to get them off before nooon. We use the line all year long, unless it is just too cold to hang them out.

I don't hang out really dressy things and I hang out everything. I don't hang out sheets in spring/fall when stuff is bloomingor ripening because of allergies.

I use both a clothesline and electric dryer. The clothesline poles (painted pipes set in concrete) date from when the house was built. Electric dryers came much later; in fact, they were originally located on the opposite side of the basement from the washer because it was easier to connect them next to the fuse box.

There's also the fact that it is somewhat difficult to hang up wet clothes while wearing gloves or mittens. And if you take the gloves off, then you are handling wet clothes in freezing temperatures and your fingers get really, really, really cold.

This is why I rarely use the outdoor clothesline during the winter. Sorry, but it's cold out there. There is a wooden clothes tree in the basement next to the fireplace, for items that are either too delicate or too heavy. In the spring, items that will be near my face get the dryer because of the high pollen count. So, bed sheets go in the dryer, but jeans can go outside. Blankets and the couch cover go in the dryer year round, because it gets out more cat hair.

Even though clotheslines are perfectly legal in my neighborhood, and most houses orginally had them, I'm the only house within a couple of blocks that still has one.

Around here, it is unheard of for a house or even an apartment not to have a clothes dryer hanging from the ceiling, to be lowered or raised by a little rope on a pulley. They take up no floor space and are generally hung over the washing machine, in a service area just off the kitchen (in my small, apartment, it isn't even a separate area, just a corner of the kitchen).

I love those drying racks hung from the ceiling on a pulley. If I ever have the right kind of laundry room (i.e. the size, layout, and ceiling height that would allow it to not be annoying), I'm totally going to try to find one of those. It would be so convenient to lower it to a height that doesn't involve bending over or stretching upward, and then raise it up out of the way until the clothes are dry.

There are things I will probably always tumble dry, but an increasing percentage of my wardrobe really just does better when I let it air dry.

The thought would never cross my mind that people who have a clothes line are poor - here, in the suburbs, where people have gardens, they are very, very common. It is also not uncommon to see clothes airers on balconies in blocks of flats, full of drying clothes.

I use my line in the summer - I love the smell of clothes dried outdoors. I do also have a drier - mine is a gas one, which is relatively uncommon here, but cheaper to run than an electric one. I don't dry delicate underwear in the drier (though it has never occurred to me to be embarrassed about it on the line!), and I always dry towels in the drier, as I think they come out softer and fluffier than air drying them.

I'm in the UK as well and this is the most fascinating thread (and makes me REALLY glad that i don't live under the edict of a HOA!). I had a tumble dryer until it expired suddenly about 18 months ago. I now have a whirly-birly dryer like this

I live in a 1BR walkup, so I'm stuck with an outside laundromat and dryers.

I always find this transatlantic difference interesting for some reason. In the US, as per this thread, a lot of people find the idea of using a clothes line weird/an indication of poverty but, on the other hand, Americans who live in flats/apartments tend not to even have a washing machine. On the other hand, in the UK, even really tiny places - studios with only one room - tend to have washing machines. It's really uncommon to share washing machines or use laundrettes.

I live in a 1BR walkup, so I'm stuck with an outside laundromat and dryers.

I always find this transatlantic difference interesting for some reason. In the US, as per this thread, a lot of people find the idea of using a clothes line weird/an indication of poverty but, on the other hand, Americans who live in flats/apartments tend not to even have a washing machine. On the other hand, in the UK, even really tiny places - studios with only one room - tend to have washing machines. It's really uncommon to share washing machines or use laundrettes.

I'm in the UK and IME, if you dont have your own washing machine, you'd use the launderette near your house. It's uncommon to have a shared laundertte in an apartment building (unless any Brits can correct me?)

The last time I had on-site shared laundry facilties was when I was a student

I live in a 1BR walkup, so I'm stuck with an outside laundromat and dryers.

I always find this transatlantic difference interesting for some reason. In the US, as per this thread, a lot of people find the idea of using a clothes line weird/an indication of poverty but, on the other hand, Americans who live in flats/apartments tend not to even have a washing machine. On the other hand, in the UK, even really tiny places - studios with only one room - tend to have washing machines. It's really uncommon to share washing machines or use laundrettes.

I'm in the UK and IME, if you dont have your own washing machine, you'd use the launderette near your house. It's uncommon to have a shared laundertte in an apartment building (unless any Brits can correct me?)

The last time I had on-site shared laundry facilties was when I was a student

ev

Yes, indeed. What I'm saying is that it's fairly unusual not to have your own washing machine. I've seen a few very very tiny London flats and they have all had them.

I live in a 1BR walkup, so I'm stuck with an outside laundromat and dryers.

I always find this transatlantic difference interesting for some reason. In the US, as per this thread, a lot of people find the idea of using a clothes line weird/an indication of poverty but, on the other hand, Americans who live in flats/apartments tend not to even have a washing machine. On the other hand, in the UK, even really tiny places - studios with only one room - tend to have washing machines. It's really uncommon to share washing machines or use laundrettes.

I'm in the UK and IME, if you dont have your own washing machine, you'd use the launderette near your house. It's uncommon to have a shared laundertte in an apartment building (unless any Brits can correct me?)

The last time I had on-site shared laundry facilties was when I was a student

ev

Yes, indeed. What I'm saying is that it's fairly unusual not to have your own washing machine. I've seen a few very very tiny London flats and they have all had them.

Gosh, I went and said the same thing as you didnt I?

yeah, even in the tiny 1 bedroom flat I lived in, with combined kitchen and living room, I still had a washing machine

When I spent a few months in London, our flat had a small washing machine. It fit under the kitchen counter. Here in the US, it's difficult to find such a small washer--they exist, but most stores don't sell them and they can be expensive. And you'd have to find someplace to put it--which if you rent would be difficult to do.

Also, I think in Europe in general it is easier to find a washer/dryer combination machine. Those never really took off in the US (even though my grandparents had one back in 1960). So if you live somewhere where you can't hang things to dry, you'd also need a dryer and more space to accommodate that.

Many apartments in the US specifically forbid tenants from having washing machines, even though there are counter-top and portable machines available. My guess is either that the plumbing can't hand the extra load or the landlord doesn't want to pay for the extra water. Or the building has a laundry room and the landlord probably makes a little money off the machines.

I'm not sure where the stigma about clothes lines originated. My guess is that post-WWII, there was a big marketing push for "labor-saving" devices, and the clothes dryer was one of those. Electricity was cheap back then, and if you were going to keep up with the Jones, you bought a dryer.

That said, both sets of my grandparents had clothes lines in their yards and used them. Growing up, we had one where we could--Dad was in the military and some places we lived either didn't allow them or it wasn't easy to dry things outside.